The Ohio State water polo team placed fourth last weekend at the Dogwood Invitational Tournament at the University of Tennessee. The OSU water polo team, which is currently competing without a coach, beat North Carolina State and James Madison, but lost twice to the Charlotte Water Polo Club.”It was a little disappointing,” said co-captain Nick Popa, a senior majoring in public relations. “I think we had a legitimate chance to win the whole thing, but it was still a good learning experience for the freshman and sophomores.” The Bucks led Charlotte going into halftime of both matches, 7-3 and 8-2 respectively, but was unable to hold on to the lead in either match. The Invitational, a non-collegiate tournament, consisted of 10 water polo clubs from all over the country. Each club played four matches over a three-day period. The University of Florida was the eventual winner. A non-collegiate tournament leaves the door open for clubs of all levels to compete. Many of the teams are made up of former college athletes and even the occasional Olympian.Last year was the most successful season for the OSU squad in nearly a decade. An amazing feat, considering the team played without a coach since the departure of Ron Stiebler before the season. “Coach Stiebler was a volunteer,” senior starter Dan Sullivan said. “Since we are not a varsity sport, he was not paid by the university. He has a family, and he just did not have the time to devote on a volunteer basis, but we were lucky to have him while he was here. He really taught us a lot.” In 1997, the team finished second in the Big Ten Championship Tournament, earning them a bid to the Collegiate Club Nationals at the University of Massachusetts. A sixth-place finish there earned them a bid to the Winter Nationals, the largest club tournament in the country. The Winter Nationals invites the best of both collegiate and non-collegiate clubs in the country. “We played against the cream of the crop in U.S. water polo, there were a lot of Olympians from the 1992 and 1996 Olympics,” Sullivan said. “It was a great honor to be invited to play, because most people never get a chance to compete against players of this nature.” University funding for the team is very limited, so they must turn to other resources to pay for their equipment and traveling. Sullivan said the team usually attends around six tournaments per year, which racks up expenses between $8,000 and $10,000 per year. To pay for most of their expenses, the team must turn to donations from local businesses, parents, large companies such as Pepsi and All Sport, and money from their own pockets.”We definitely want to thank Pepsi,” Popa said. “Their support has helped get the team to the level it is now.” In 1993, Popa was invited to compete in the U.S. Olympic Festival, which pitted the top water polo players in the country against each other. All the water polo players were vying for a spot on the Olympic team. He declined the invitation in favor of starting his freshman year at OSU.Co-captain Jeff Carr, a senior majoring in management information systems, declined a swimming scholarship at Florida in favor of playing water polo at OSU. “I saw that a lot of great players were going to play at Ohio State so I saw a great opportunity to play with some quality players,” Carr said.The team will host a tournament April 17-18 at the varsity pool in Larkins Hall. “We love to have people come out and learn about the sport,” Sullivan said.